Titilope Ajayi is a Senior Researcher with the Central Africa Observatory project on organised crime and violence. She joined the Institute for Security Studies in August 2024 as a Senior Researcher working on security sector governance in West and Central Africa. Over 20+ years, she has led and managed research and policy programmes in regional and international NGOs and consulted widely on a wide range of conflict and governance issues, including gender and security, violent extremism, security sector reform, humanitarianism, militarisation, and civil society and social movements.

A three-time fellow of the Social Science Research Council, she holds a PhD in international affairs from the University of Ghana. She is the author of several articles and the book Globalised Resistance and the Bring Back Our Girls Movement: New Dimensions of Transnational Activism (Routledge, 2025).

Ballo Ngomna is a Programme Administrator with the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), supporting the Central Africa Observatory Project since May 2025. He brings over six years of experience in administration, programme implementation, donor-funded project management and reporting, and research support across peace, security, and governance initiatives. Prior to joining ISS, he worked on UN-, EU-, and other donor-funded projects with Local Youth Corner Cameroon, the Nkafu Policy Institute, and the West Africa Civil Society Institute, and provided consultancy support at both national and international levels. At the Observatory, he contributes to efficient programme delivery, administrative coordination, logistic support, reporting and compliance with donor requirements. Ballo holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the International Relations Institute of Cameroon and is a member of the National Technical Committee on Youth, Peace, and Security.

Dr Oluwole Ojewale currently serves as a senior researcher on the Central Africa Observatory (CAO) program at the       Institute for Security (ISS). From 2021 – 2025; he served as the ENACT Regional Organised Crime Observatory Coordinator for Central Africa at the Institute for Security Studies in Dakar, Senegal. He possesses senior-level experiences in supporting policy influencing projects through advocacy, advisory, evidence gathering and dissemination across 23 countries in Africa, Europe and Middle East. Currently, Oluwole leads on improving the evidence-based knowledge and analysis on transnational organized crime and its impact on governance, development and state fragility in central Africa region and South Sudan. His research interests span security, conflict, resilience and urban governance in Africa. At various times, he has undertaken studies and stakeholders’ engagements in Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Senegal. He is a frequent media commentator on New York Times, CNN, TRT, BBC, CGTN, DW, VOA, Al Jazeera, and France24 among others, providing expert analysis on diverse issues on security and governance in Africa. His scholarship has generated tangible impacts on public policy and academic discourse. Dr Oluwole has co-authored a book; published 37 peer-reviewed papers, six policy briefs, and over 30 policy commentaries through leading academic journals and public policy institutions.

Aicha Pemboura joined the ISS in August 2025 as a Researcher with the Central Africa Observatory on Organised Crime and Violence Project, based in Yaoundé. Previously, she was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Yaoundé II in Cameroon, and collaborated with the United States Institute of Peace, the Boutros Ghali Peacekeeping Observatory, the College of Advanced Studies in Strategy and Defense of Kinshasa, and the International War College of Cameroon. Her research focuses on public security policies, peacekeeping, international military cooperation and violent extremism. She holds a PhD in Political Science.

Mugah Michael Sitawa is a researcher with the Central Africa Observatory on Organized Crime and Violence Project. He joined ISS on the 1^st of August 2025 as a researcher with the Enhancing Civil Society Engagement in Security Sector Governance Project based in Nairobi. He later transitioned to Research Consultancy with ENACT where he was part of the ‘Illicit trade in inland waterways- the case of Lake Tanganyika’ project.

Before joining the ISS, Sitawa was with the International Peace Support Training Centre as applied researcher where he carried out research in various areas including in IED threat mitigation. He was also deployed by the Kenya Defence Headquarters CDF to carry out research in the Eastern DRC-in support of the EACRF. He holds a BA, an MA and a PhD in Sociology with a focus on social systems analysis. He is a member of the Association of the Association of Disaster Management and Crisis Response-Kenya.

Raoul Sumo Tayo is a Senior Researcher for the Central Africa Observatory on organised crime and violence. Prior to this role, he held the position of Senior Researcher for the ENACT organized crime project based in Yaoundé, Cameroon, having joined the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in June 2024. Before this, he worked for the Small Arms Surveys, the Center for Peace, Security and Integration Studies (CPSIS), the University of Maroua, and the Centre for Strategic Studies and Innovations. Sumo Tayo studied Sociology at the University of Liège and History of International Relations at the University of Yaoundé 1, where he obtained his PhD in 2017.